Fastener portions including loops (called loop fastener portions herein) adapted to be releasably engaged by other fastener portions which may include hooks or headed stems are well known in the art. Typically, such a loop fastener portion comprises a soft flexible sheet-like fibrous structure having a multiplicity of loops along a first major surface, which fibrous structure may be formed by any of several methods such as weaving, knitting, warp knitting, weft insertion knitting, stitch-sewing or the known methods for making nonwoven structures. Such loop fastener portions may also include adhesive coatings (e.g., thickened or foamed latex) to help bond together their fibers at their contact points both to restrict the loops on the loop fastener portions from enlarging and to restrict the fastener portions from tearing when tension is applied to the loops by mating fastener portions with which the looped fastener portions are engaged, such as upon the disengagement of such fastener portions.
Some such loop fastener portions are intended to be sewn in place, particularly where they are used on articles (e.g., clothing) that will be washed or dry cleaned. Other such loop fastener portions include a layer of pressure sensitive adhesive on their surface opposite their loops, which is often the preferred method of attaching loop fastener portions to objects that do not require launderability or that cannot be sewn.
Both of these methods of attachment have certain disadvantages, however. Sewing typically is labor intensive and can decrease the area of the fastener portion that can be engaged by a mating fastener portion. Also to facilitate sewing the fibrous structure of the loop fastener portion should have sufficient internal strength and integrity so that it can be held in place with a reasonable number of stitches, and thus it is impractical to sew certain types of loop fastener portions that may have, for example, nonwoven fibrous structures. When pressure sensitive adhesives are used, the fibrous structures must be sufficiently nonporous to prevent the loops from sticking to the adhesives and thus becoming unavailable for engagement with mating fastener portions. Also, prior to use, pressure sensitive adhesives on such loop fastener portions must be protected as by a liner which must be removed before the loop fastener is attached to an object.